The Break-Up of the “August” Bloc

Published:Put PravdyNo. 37, March 15, 1914.

      Published according to the text inPut Pravdy.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,1972,

      Moscow,Volume 20,

      pages158-161.Translated:Bernard Isaacs and The Late Joe FinebergTranscription\Markup:R. CymbalaPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive

      (2004).You may freely copy, distribute,
	display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and
	commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet
	Archive” as your source.

Allwho are interested in the working-class movement and
Marxism in Russia know that a bloc of the liquidators, Trotsky, the Letts,
the Bundists and the Caucasians was formed in August 1912.

Theformation of this bloc was announced with tremendous ballyhoo in
the newspaperLuch, which was founded in St. Petersburg—not with
workers’ money—just when the elections were being held, in order to
sabotage the will of the majority of the organised workers. It went into raptures
over the bloc’s “large membership”, over the alliance of “Marxists of
different trends”, over “unity” and non-factionalism, and it raged
against the “splitters”, the supporters of the January 1912
Conference.[1]

Thequestion of “unity” was thus presented to thinking workers in a
new and practical light. The facts were to show who was right: those who
praised the “unity” platform and tactics of the August bloc members, or
those who said that this was a false signboard, a new disguise for the old,
bankrupt liquidators.

Exactlyeighteen monthspassed. A tremendous period
considering the upsurge of 1912–13. And then, in February 1914, a new
journal—this time eminently “unifying” and eminently and truly
“non-factional”—bearing the titleBorba, was founded by
Trotsky, that “genuine” adherent of the August platform.

Boththe contents ofBorba’sissue No. 1 and what the
liquidators wrote about that journal before it appeared, at once revealed
to the attentive observer that the August blochad broken upand
that frantic efforts were being made to conceal this and hoodwink the
workers. But this fraud will also be exposed very soon.

Beforethe appearance ofBorba, the editors ofSevernaya
Rabochaya
Gazeta[2]published a scathing comment stating:
“The real physiognomy of this journal, which has of late been spoken of
quite a lot in Marxist circles, is still unclear to us.”

Thinkof that, reader: since August 1912 Trotsky has been considered a
leader of the August unity bloc; but the whole of 1913 shows him to have
been dissociated fromLuchand the Luchists. In 1914, this
selfsame Trotsky establisheshis ownjournal, while continuing
fictitiously on the staff ofSevernaya Rabochaya GazetaandNasha Zarya. “There is a plod deal of talk in circles”
about a secret “memorandum”—which the liquidators are keeping
dark—written by Trotskyagainstthe Luchists, Messrs. F. D.,
L. M., and similar “strangers”.

Andyet the truthful, non-factional and unifying Editorial Board ofSevernaya Rabochaya Gazetawrites: “Its physiognomy is still
unclear to us!”

Itis not yet clear to them that the August bloc has fallen apart!

No,Messrs. F. D., L. M. and other Luchists, it is perfectly “clear”
to you, and you are simply deceiving the workers.

TheAugust bloc—as we said at the time, in August 1912—turned out
to be a mere screen for the liquidators.That bloc has fallen
asunder.Evenits friends in Russia have not been able to
stick together. The famous uniters even failed to unite themselves and we
gottwo“August” trends, the Luchist trend (Nasha ZaryaandSevernaya Rabochaya Gazeta) and the Trotskyist trend
(Borba). Both are waring scraps of the “general and united”
August banner which they have torn up, and both are shouting themselves
hoarse with cries of “unity”!

WhatisBorba’strend? Trotsky wrote a verbose article inSevernaya Rabochaya GazetaNo. 11, explaining this, but the
editors of that liquidator newspaper very pointedly re plied that its
“physiognomy is still unclear”.

Theliquidators do have theirownphysiognomy, a liberal, not
a Marxist one. Anyone familiar with the writings of F. D., L. S., L. M.,
Yezhov,[3]Potresov and Co. is familiar with this physiognomy.

Trotsky,however, has never had any “physiognomy” at all; the only
thing he does have is a habit of changing sides, of skipping from the
liberals to the Marxists and back again, of mouthing scraps of catchwords
and bombastic parrot phrases.

InBorbayou will not find asinglelive word on any
controversial issue.

Thisis incredible, but it is a fact.

Thequestion of the “underground”?Not a word.

DoesTrotsky share the views of Axelrod, Zasulich, F. D.,
L. S. (LuchNo. 101) and so forth?Not a murmur.

Theslogan of fighting for an open party? Not asingle word.

Theliberal utterances of the Yezhovs and other Luchists on strikes?
The annulment of the programme on the national question?Not a
murmur.

Theutterances of L. Sedov and other Luchistsagainst twoof
the
“pillars”[4]?Not a murmur. Trotsky assures us that he is in
favour of combining immediate demands with ultimate aims, but there is not
a word as to his attitude towards theliquidatormethod of
effecting this “combination”!

Actually,under cover of high-sounding, empty, and obscure phrases that
confuse the non-class-conscious workers, Trotsky is defending the
liquidators by passing over in silence the question of the “underground”,
by asserting that there is no liberal-labour policy in Russia, and the
like.

Trotskydelivers a long lecture to the seven Duma deputies, headed by
Chkheidze, instructing them how to repudiate the “underground” and the
Party in amore subtle manner. This amusing lecture clearly points
to thefurther break-upof the Seven. Buryanov has left them. They
were unable to see eye to eye in their reply to Plekhanov. They are now
oscillating between Dan and Trotsky, while Chkheidze is evidently
exercising his diplomatic talents in an effort to paper over the new
cracks.

Andthese near-Party people, who are unable to unite on theirown“August” platform, try to deceive the workers with their
shouts about “unity”! Vain efforts!

Unitymeans recognising the “old” and combating those who repudiate
it. Unity means rallying the majority of the workers in Russia about
decisions which have long beenknown, and which condemn liquidationism. Unity means that members of the
Duma must work in harmony with the will of the majority of the workers,
which the six workers’ deputies are doing.

Butthe liquidators and Trotsky, the Seven and Trotsky, who tore up
their own August bloc, who flouted all the decisions of the Party and
dissociated themselves from the “underground” as well as from the
organised workers, are the worst splitters. Fortunately, the workers have
already realised this, and all class-conscious workers are creating their
ownrealunityagainstthe liquidator disruptors of
unity.

[1]Leninis referring to theSixth (Prague) All-Russia Conference of
the R. S. D. L. P.held in Prague on January 5–17 (18–30), 1912,
which virtually played the role of a Party congress.

Overtwenty Party organisations were represented at the Conference,
which was also attended by representatives of the Editorial Board of the
Central OrganSotsial-Demokrat, the Editorial Board ofRabochaya Gazeta, the Committee of the Organisation Abroad, and
the Transport Group of the Central Committee of the R. S. D. L. P. With the
exception of two pro-Party Mensheviks, the delegates were Bolsheviks. Among
the delegates were G. K. Orjonikidze of the Tiflis organisation,
S. S. Spandaryan of Baku, Y. P. Onufriev of St. Petersburg, and
F. I. Goloshchokin of Moscow. The Committee of the Organisation Abroad was
represented by N. A. Semashko, and the Transport Group of the C.C. by
I. A. Pyatnitsky.

Leninrepresented the Editorial Board of the Central Organ.

TheConference was conducted by Lenin, who, at the opening, spoke on
the constitution of the Conference, made reports on the current situation
and the tasks of the Party, and the work of the International Socialist
Bureau, and took p art in the debates on the work of the Central Organ, the
tasks of the Social-Democratsin combating famine, on the organisational question, the work of the Party
organisation abroad, and other questions. Lenin drafted resolutions on all
the important questions standing on the agenda.

Lenin’sreport on “The Tasks of the Party in the Present Situation”
and the corresponding resolution of the Conference gave a profound analysis
of the political situation within the country, and showed that
revolutionary sentiment among the masses was running high. The Conference
emphasised that the task of the conquest of power by the proletariat, who
led the peasantry, remained that of a democratic revolution in Russia.

Themost important task of the Conference was to rid the Party of the
opportunists. Its resolutions on “Liquidationism and the Group of
Liquidators” and on “The Party Organisation Abroad” were of tremendous
significance in point of principle and practice. The liquidators were
grouped around two legal journals—Nasha ZaryaandDyelo
Zhizni. The Conference declared that, “by their behaviour, theNasha ZaryaandDyelo Zhiznigroup had placed themselves
irretrievably beyond the pale of the Party”. The liquidators were expelled
from the R. S. D. L. P. The Conference condemned the activities of the
anti-Party groups abroad—the MenshevikGolosgroup, theVperyodgroup and the Trotskyists. The existence abroad of a
united Party organisation working for the Party under the control and
guidance of the Central Committee was recognised as an absolute necessity
by the Conference, which pointed out that the groups abroad “which do not
submit to the Social-Democratic centre in Russia, that is, the Central
Committee, and which introduce disorganisation by establishing special
contacts with Russia over the head of the C. C., cannot speak on behalf of
the R. S. D. L. P.” These resolutions played a tremendous role in
strengthening the unity of the Marxist party in Russia.

Oneof the highlights of the Conference was the question of
participation in the Fourth Duma election campaign. The Conference stressed
that the chief task of the Party at the elections and of the
Social-Democratic group in the Duma itself was socialist class propaganda
and the organisation of the working class. Basic minimum-programme demands
for a democratic republic, an eight-hour day, and confiscation of all
landed estates were advanced by the Conference as the Party’s principal
election slogans.

TheConference adopted a resolution on “The Character and
Organisational Forms of Party Work”, endorsed the changes in the Party
Rules proposed by Lenin, confirmedSotsial-Demokratin its status,
of the Party’s Central Organ, elected a Central Committee of the Party, and
set up a Russian Bureau of the Central Committee.

ThePrague Conference of the R. S. D. L. P. played an outstanding part
in building up the Bolshevik Party, a party of a new type. It summed up the
entire historical phase of the Bolsheviks’ struggle against the Mensheviks,
and consolidated the Bolsheviks’ victory. The Menshevik liquidators were
expelled from the Party. Thelocal Party organisations rallied around the decisions of the Conference,
which strengthened the Party as an all-Russia organisation. The political
line and tactics of the Party under the conditions of a new revolutionary
upswing were laid down. Purged of the opportunists, the Bolshevik Party
took the lead in the new powerful upsurge of the revolutionary struggle of
the masses. Of great international significance, the Prague Conference gave
the revolutionary elements in the parties of the Second International an
example of determined struggle against opportunism, which it conducted to
the extent of a complete organisational break with the opportunists.

[2]SeeNote 20.

[3]Yezhov—the Menshevik liquidator S. 0. Tsederbaum.

[4]Againsttwo of the“pillars”, i. e., against the
Bolshevik slogans of a democratic republic and confiscation of all landed
estates.